Ha, couldn’t think of a ‘determined’ simile so I used something from my past...
Anyways, enjoy the update I didn’t like the sound of ‘Deanne’s Secret’, so I named it ‘Dee’s Secret’. Sounds cooler... to me at least
If you haven’t guessed the secret by now... well now you know.

Chapter 18
Dee’s Secret

The weeks passed by silently. Harry kept pestering me because he was always there, trying to help. I knew he was trying to prove to me that he would make a great boyfriend, but like I had said to Draco, he deserved better than me. Every guy deserved better than me, whether they believed it or not.
Except for Cody, but I deserve better than him; he’s proven that many times over.

Winter melted away and we made it through spring. Shockingly, I managed to make it through the seasons without having to kill myself – if Harry wasn’t there, Draco was! He was most determined to win me over... of course, no one can beat Cody, he’s as determined as a child learning how to tie his shoes! I still was somewhat forced to see him throughout the remaining months, but thankfully we haven’t fought enough for him to blackmail me again. It was early June before anything had happened, though.



It was barely dawn when I decided I was bored. The only time I got to myself was the time I spent awake in the night, unless I was faking sleep when people came around in the middle of the night, either sleepwalking or half asleep and getting something.

Walking down the halls stealthily, not waking any of the paintings that were still sleeping, I managed to make it outside. I prowled under the half-moon, heading to a section of the beach far from the forest. Before I knew it, I had hiked down the shoreline and without thinking, headed into the forest. It was like a sub-conscious path I had created months before. Without thinking, I called Cody’s name.

“Dee!”

I tensed at the name; it sounded cut off.

“Cody?” I called again.

“Get a...”

Then there was nothing. I couldn’t figure out what he might’ve meant, so I continued into the forest. Suddenly, I was tackled to the ground and pinned. Even using all my strength, all I managed to do was throw the... thing off-balance.

“Merlin, you stink...”

I squinted slightly and inhaled. I gagged at the scent – it was the strong, sickening smell of dog.

“You’re no bet...” My response was cut off by his hand covering my mouth and nose.

“Shut up,” the man growled.

I tried to make out his face, but it was covered. It looked oddly misshapen and similar... My eyes widened in shock; it was Fenrir Greyback, new recruit to the Death Eaters. I had met him once ages ago, only protected by Cody, who stood a strong, protective ground between me and him.

I resisted the urge to bite off Fenrir’s hand and turn him into the first were-pire (if I turned him into a vampire, would he hate himself?), but that didn’t stop me from trying to speak. He seemed to understand my series of incoherent words.

“Your little boyfriend? He’s... a little tied up now.”

I responded to that, and yet again Fenrir seemed to understand.

“He isn’t as strong as he claims.”

I growled, the noise muffled by his hand. Suddenly, I felt as if I was being pushed through a small, tight tube. Just as I thought I was about to be crunched to pieces, the air around me opened up, revealing a large, dark room. I heard the shaking of chains, the straining of them being yanked against the wall. I heard muffled yelling, and I looked around; I couldn’t see anything other than the horrid werewolf. Thankfully, he pushed me away and I hit a wall. I felt searing pain hit the back of my head as the stone wall collided with my skull, but it didn’t crack.

“Tell us what you know,” Fenrir growled. Suddenly, the room lit up brightly and cloaked, masked, and hooded Death Eaters appeared in a semi-circle, blocking all exits in front of me.

“No,” I growled back.

Suddenly, muffled screaming came again.

“What’s going on?” I snapped. I felt chains suddenly take me and hold me to the wall. I yanked with all my might, but they barely even moved.

The semi-circle broke at the centre, and I saw the chains that held Cody spread out unnaturally far... they were forcibly stretching him! How sickening!

But then again, these are Death Eaters.

“Tell us or you’ll watch your little boyfriend be ripped to pieces and burned,” another voice snarled.

“I don’t know anything!”

I saw Cody across the room being stretched by moving chains again. His jaw clenched hard.

“What is the trio up to now? They’re stealing something of the Dark Lord’s; what is it?”

“I don’t know!”

Cody’s muffled growl of pain echoed throughout the room. I couldn’t bear to watch.

“You heard her; she doesn’t know. Now leave her alone.”

The Death Eaters spun around, and I looked up and saw the entire Order, including Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, standing in the middle of the room. Before I knew it, I dropped into a lump on the floor, and the fighting began. I swore I was fading in and out of consciousness, because I started to see a shimmering white blur...



After what felt like moments, I felt myself being lifted.

“Put her down,” I heard a voice growl.

“You’re the one that got her into this mess,” another rasping voice responded. I was lifted higher and into the warm body of who I could only assume by scent was Draco.

“She might be disoriented; you don’t know if she can control herself.” I immediately recognized Cody’s voice.

“Control what?”

Cody chuckled. I felt my arm drop out of Draco’s grip and hang limply. My strength felt zapped; I couldn’t lift it.

“What?” Draco growled.

“Oh, nothing,” Cody responded in a sing-songy way. I was shocked – it was the first time he didn’t tell anyone about my secret that asked. I had a feeling, though, that after this, everyone would know. That alone made my head spin more.

A short second after that conversation, I felt myself being pushed into a tight-fitting tube again. Just as my head began to pound, I felt the space around me open up, and light made it through my eyelids. I squeezed them shut, groaning.

“Are you seriously still conscious after that?” I heard Draco’s voice whisper clearly.

“Yeah...” I managed to get out. I thought it was impossible for me to get hurt. What’s going on?

Draco strode beneath me, and after a flight of stairs, I felt myself plop down onto a cot.

Back at the hospital wing. You've got to be kidding.

Madam Pomfrey huffed about me, forcing sick-tasting potions down my throat. I then realized one of my hands was ensnared by warmth and his voice spoke softly, almost distantly in my mind; I couldn’t make out what he said. I then swore I heard noise in the distance, as if many people were running inside a small room at once. The noise suddenly got loud, and I groaned and brought my other shoulder up to my ear.

“Is she ok?” I heard someone ask – it sounded like Mrs. Weasley.

“Well...” I heard Draco’s sarcastic response start to build, but was cut off by Madam Pomfrey.

“The boy told me everything. She’s alive, just... sensitive. Can’t say she’s fragile exactly, considering she fell ten feet to a stone floor and still manages to be conscious.”

“Well she never does sleep,” I heard Harry’s voice comment.

“Maybe that has something to do with it.” I could almost hear the shrug in the healer’s voice. I heard her feet hit the floor as she hurried away.

As soon as she was far enough away, I slowly allowed my eyes to open. A chorus of thankful sighs acknowledged this.

“Malfoy, you might want to step back,” I heard someone say with quiet yet firm authority.

My head flopped to my other side and tensed my jaw. Draco was practically ripped from me and held back.

“Let go,” I heard him snarl. I looked at his capturer and saw it was Lupin. He looked at me warily, managing to keep Malfoy back.

“What’s going on?”

I saw Harry’s worried expression as he looked at the adults. They looked at him, and then at me; what’s wrong?

“Deanne, it would be best to tell your friends what’s ‘wrong’,” Lupin told me. My eyes narrowed at him suspiciously. I dropped the look when my eyes fell upon Draco.

“Let him go,” I told Lupin.

“Not until you inform him and everyone else here that doesn’t know.”

I tried to jump out of the bed and take out Lupin, but a hold managed to keep me down. I looked at the hands that were placed firmly on my shoulder; I followed the arm up until I saw Cody’s face. Damn, the only person that could actually hold me happened to agree with this! Well it wasn’t much of a surprise because this was why I had been to 3 different schools, but that’s not the point!

“What is it?” Harry asked, looking at me curiously. I saw the worry behind his mask; it hurt me to see him so ignorant.

“Let go of me, you wolf,” Draco snarled. Lupin didn’t even look remotely surprised at what Draco called him.

“Deanne, Draco’s waiting,” Lupin told me. I glared and tried to jump up again, but Cody had a firm grip on me. I watched Draco fight against Lupin, probably determined to push Cody off of me, but that’s all I could assume.

I glared at him again. I then sighed and looked at Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, who stood next to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. I then looked at Cody, begging him to help me out of this. In his eyes, I could see his response; ‘it’s for the best’.

“Fine. But first, get off.”

Cody gave me another look that clearly said ‘Don’t even think about it’, and let go and took half a step back. I sat up slowly, and turned to face everyone.

“Look, I’m not exactly... 17.” I looked at my friends’ faces; they were confused. “I was born in 1932 in London, and I met Cody when I was 14. I’m sure you all figured out that he’s a vampire by now. You see, somewhere at some time, there is one person that smells better to them than the typical human to a vampire. For him, that was me, that average, plain British girl living in Switzerland.

“For a year and a bit, he hid in the forest and we saw each other throughout the day, in the evening, anytime we could when I was at school. Home was a different story. Things happened, and I did what he told me; I ran.” I took a quick break; the next part was always hardest for me to explain. “I went to the next country over; France. I landed in Paris and went to Beauxbatons. By this time, it was the summer of 1947. I went to school there for a bit, uninterrupted by any... distractions.” I looked at Cody when I said this. I then turned back to look at my friends, and Draco, who stood in Lupin’s grip, almost as if entranced by my story. “After a few months... yours truly finds me. He’s changed; he left his family, and along with that, any values and virtue he had left. He had gone from living off of animal blood to sucking off of humans.

“Well, you see... it was difficult for him to be around me now that he was different, yet he wouldn’t leave me alone. We went a few months, only seeing each other at distance, never face to face. After the end of my 4th year, he visited me in the middle of the night in my home in the wizarding suburb outside of muggle Paris.

“I was out in the forest, sitting on a bench in front of the river next to my parents’ manor. I didn’t hear him sneaking up on me, but when he was close enough, I turned around. He told me...”

“I can’t fight it anymore,” Cody spoke for me.

“And when he did, he lifted me from the bench, and he bit me.” I pulled my hair back and turned the left side of my neck to them, revealing a very small ivory scar shaped like a crescent moon to everyone. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione looked like they were about to faint. I looked at Draco, and I saw the hurt reflect in his pale eyes.

“I dropped out of school for a few years then, becoming adjusted my the daily struggles. Once I gained enough self control, which does take a long time to become accustomed to, I ran to Spain, attempting to evade Cody. I landed in Barcelona with my family in 1995. I went to school there, and within weeks, Cody found me. It was then that the threats started. Each year, we’d get into a fight and my secret would be revealed.

“Before I came here, I was in Scotland. It was there that I first met Lupin in a full moon. You all should know that werewolves and vampires are mortal enemies, so when I saw him there, he attacked me. Before he could get a bite out of me, Cody jumped out of nowhere and took him out. Apparently he has some scars for proof that this happened or something,” I added dismissively. I then continued.

“So... that’s why I didn’t eat, that’s why I my skin is like ice, and why my eyes are violet. Before all this, I actually had naturally tan skin and green eyes; rather similar to Harry’s actually. I’ve lost most of my skin colour and my eyes diluted to violet. It’s better than blood red, though.

“But that’s it. You’ve all wanted to know my secret, that’s what it is; I’m a vampire.”

Yeah, bit of a cliffie there, eh?
Well the next part is the result of hearing those words. And that will be posted...
Tomorrow.
At earliest